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Tuesday, 8 October 2013

APEC should lead a more open world economy & play a bigger role; Reform and innovation are new drivers: President Xi said

Leaders of the Asia-Pacific region and their respective spouses, wearing traditional Balinese "endek" costumes, pose for a group photo before a dinner hosted for the leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Monday. Photo: AFP

Chinese President Xi Jinping
Monday called on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies
to play a leading role in maintaining and advancing an open world
economy.

Xi made the remarks during a keynote speech to an
informal meeting of economic leaders at an APEC meeting on the
Indonesian resort island of Bali, which had sustainable growth and
regional cooperation high on the agenda.

Noting that the world
economy is still confronted with daunting challenges before achieving a
full recovery and sound growth, Xi said APEC must face them head-on with
courage and resolve.

The president said APEC member economies
should work together for the common development of the Asia-Pacific
through increased macro-economic policy coordination.

With the
economies of APEC members closely intertwined with economic
globalization, they must amplify the positive effects of macro-economic
policy coordination while preventing or reducing the negative spillover,
and pursue win-win cooperation in an open and inclusive spirit, he
said.

Su Hao, director of the Asia-Pacific Research Center at
China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times that Xi's speech
stressed that economic development is the priority for members of APEC,
as other players try to provoke other problems in the region which
might make some ignore the importance of economic development.

Meanwhile,
Xi also noted that while the international community is working to push
forward the Doha Round, various free trade arrangements in the
Asia-Pacific are advancing in parallel, each with different rules,
standards and preferred pathways.

Xi said that China believes
that "any arrangement should lead to a cooperative relationship, not a
confrontational one; an open mindset, not an exclusive one; win-win
results, not a zero-sum outcome; and integration, not fragmentation,"
without naming a particular arrangement.

"TPP is like a small circle which might be against APEC's aim to achieve wide economic integration in the region," said Su.

Xi also called on APEC members to stay committed to open development and resolutely oppose protectionism.

Ei
Sun Oh, a senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International
Studies at Nanyang Technological University, told the Global Times that
Xi's call for more open access is "both timely and crucial," and
Southeast Asian countries understand collective lowering of these
barriers will ultimately bring forth more common interests for all.

He
noted that China could take the lead, for example in lowering or
canceling several tariffs in the new China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade
Zone.

Earlier on Monday, Xi elaborated his views on the Chinese
economy and the country's reform at a business forum on the sidelines of
the APEC meeting, assuring business leaders that there is no reason to
fear a hard landing.

China's GDP growth slowed to 7.6 percent in the first half of this year.

"I'm
fully confident in the future of China's economy," Xi said, noting the
slowdown is "an intended result of our own regulatory initiatives" and a
"seven percent annual growth rate will suffice" to meet China's
medium-term goal of doubling per capita income by 2020.

Xi highlighted the importance of reform, which he said is facing an uphill battle and in the deep-water zone.

"China
is a big country. It shouldn't make subversive errors on fundamental
issues, or it would be irredeemable. We not only need to be bold in
exploring [reform], but also need to be cautious and think it over
twice," Xi said.

The APEC group has 21 members, which account for about 55 percent of world GDP and some 40 percent of the world's population.

Agencies contributed to this story

President Xi fully confident about future of Chinese economy

Chinese President Xi Jinping
(2nd L) and his wife Peng Liyuan (1st L) pose for a photo with
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (2nd R) and his wife
before a dinner hosted for the leaders and their spouses at the 21st
APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Oct. 7, 2013. Photo:
Xinhua

Chinese President Xi
Jinping said in Bali on Monday that he is fully confident about the
future of the Chinese economy, based on a comprehensive analysis of all
factors.

"I am confident because first of all China's growth rate
is within the reasonable and expected range," said Xi while addressing
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) CEO summit, noting that the
change in speed of growth has on the whole been smooth.

Describing
the fundamentals of the Chinese economy as good, Xi said that
"everything has been going as expected and nothing has come as
surprise."

He stressed that the slowdown in the speed is an intended result of China's own regulatory initiatives.

"Second,
I am confidant because the quality and efficiency of China's economy
development are improving steadily," the president continued.

Moving
from over-reliance on investment and export to dependence on domestic
demand, China, instead of taking GDP growth as the sole criterion for
success, is now focusing more on improving the quality and efficiency of
growth, he elaborated.

"Third, I am confident because China has a
strong home-grown driving force for growth," said Xi, adding that
ongoing urbanization, education improvement and expansion of domestic
demand will continuously inject impetus into the economy.

The
Chinese leader also attributed his confidence to the sound development
prospects of the Asia-Pacific, saying his country has faith in the
development of the whole region.

"China has achieved its own
development, and at the same time, China's development has also
contributed to regional economic growth," said Xi, eying a stronger
momentum of the interaction in the future.

After wrapping up his
state visits to Indonesia and Malaysia, the Chinese President arrived in
Bali on Saturday afternoon to attend the APEC meeting, his first
appearance at the summit since taking over the presidency in March. -Xinhua

Xi: Reform and innovation are new drivers of economic growth

Chinese President Xi Jinping has told a group of CEOs gathered in
Bali that his country's economy will continue to grow. His remarks came
on the final day of a summit for business leaders that was held on the
sidelines of the APEC Leaders Meeting.

As the head of Asia’s most robust economy, when Xi Jinping talks,
business leaders listen. And as a CEO Summit of regional executives
closed, President Xi laid out his vision for Asia-Pacific’s economies.

"The Asia-Pacific has long been an important engine of world economic
growth. To push forward a recovery at a time of a sluggish global
economy, economies in the Asia-Pacific should have the courage to do
what has never been done before." Chinese president Xi said.

Many CEOs attending the summit had expressed concern over Beijing’s
QUOTE “slowing growth.” But a new study showed that nearly 70 percent of
them plan to increase their investments in China in the coming years.

Speaking before Xi, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, attempted
to assure them: the entire region presented all sorts of opportunities.

Already twice this year, Russia has had to cut its growth forecast, as Moscow has struggled with waning investment and output.

Last week, the U-S overtook Russia as the world’s largest gas-and-oil
producer. A point highlighted by John Kerry, the U-S Secretary of
State, standing in place for Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, Kerry tried to reassure business leaders that despite Obama’s absence, Washington remained committed to region.

“I want to emphasize that there is nothing that’ll shake the
commitment of the United States to the rebalance to Asia that President
Obama is leading. And I think it’s fair to say to all of you that we are
very very proud to be a Pacific nation.” Kerry said.

Reporter: “The CEOs represent the nearly 3 billion customers who live
in the Asia Pacific region. In the coming years, the region’s economy
will be determined by how those customers will spend their money and how
they spend will likely be determined by what the leaders here say, and
what the CEOs hear.” - CCTV